How to Work Full Time and still Get Good Grades as a Student

No matter what American romantic movies are trying to show us, being a student is often a rather hard time of one’s life. With the economy as bad as now, precious few can afford to devote their entire time to learning, and not many more can be satisfied with a part-time job. A significant part of students has to work full time, which renders getting high grades almost impossible. However, there are things you can do to juggle work and studies rather successfully, and today we’d like to talk about them.

So, how to make money you need and still be a good student?

You have to optimize your time

You would be surprised to find out how much time you actually spend in vain. Remember that half an hour you spent checking Facebook? Slept an hour longer than you should have this morning? Watched a few YouTube videos instead of doing research for your paper? All these little breaks add up to a significant total.

It’s true that you have to make breaks in order not to go crazy. But you can make these breaks useful by varying the types of activities. Your brain will take a rest while you are cleaning your room or doing some mechanical work you are paid for, and will be well rested by the time you need it to work. The secret is that you should never waste your time.

You need the right full-time job

It might seem tempting to try your hand at being a studying worker, rather than a working student, but the truth is that you won’t handle a regular full-time job. What you need is some on-campus position, where you’d be able to work without getting far from your dorm and classes, or an off-campus job that offers some flexibility and is not very busy so that you could do some studying on the way (e. g. a bookstore attendant).

Have your priorities straight

To be able to get (mostly) high grades, you will have to develop a knack for prioritizing your assignments. You can postpone or even bail on minor ones that won’t harm your rating, but to do so, you will first have to learn how to identify them. Accept it as the truth that you can’t do everything that are asked. This kind of perfectionism will lead you nowhere.

Always remember why you are doing it

It might be tough at times, to the point of frustration. To avoid breakdowns, you should always understand why you are doing what you’re doing (i.e. working full time and studying at the same time). Besides, it will no doubt become one of your favorite deductive stories to tell your kids, as well as a source of pride for yourself. It is definitely worth it.

There is one last thing…

Reward yourself regularly. You need to wait for something. General motivation is good, but having little pleasures from time to time might be even better. You are already a hero because you are trying to do two things that are usually not done together. So, you definitely deserve a treat for that.